The field of the invention is electrical connectors, components and methods used for forming connections between one or more pairs of terminals, typically female terminals and male pins mounted in adjacent housings. The terminals of one housing are moved toward and into engagement with the terminals in the other housing by extending a cam transversely through the housing.
The prior art includes a cam operated electrical connector in which terminals are cam moved into engagement, the cam having a single cam surface which engages a body carrying one set of terminals. The body is shifted to form the connection but is not supported against cocking or tilting during the entire stroke, thereby risking misalignment between the respective terminal pairs.
The body is most likely to cock during initial engagement with the cam and during disengagement from the cam. Alignment problems can be particularly severe in miniature connector blocks of the type presently required by modern, miniature circuit elements where accumulated manufacturing tolerances may exceed as much as 25% of the spacing between adjacent terminals. In some cases accumulated tolerances can prevent proper mating of connector parts.